Roller-towel cabinet



G. W. PERDON.

ROLLER TOWEL CAB|NEL -PPLICATION FILE!) MARl 241 1921. 1.4.08,283.

Patented Feb.,28, 1922.

G. w. PERDON. ROLLER TOWEL CABINET.l APPLICATION FILED MA-R; 24| 192i?Patented Feb. 2s, 1922.

s SHEETS-SHEET 2.

G. W. FERDON.V

ROLLER TOWEL CABINET.

- APPLICATION FILED MAR=24.1921.

1,408,283, Peeented Feb. 28, 1922.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

' 5 Gig feraz.

UNITED STATES PATENT oFFlcE.

- GUY W. FERDON, F CRESSKILL, NEW JERSEY.

ROLLER-TOWEL CABINET.

To all whom t may concern.:

Be it known that I, GUY W. FnRDoN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Cresskill, county of Bergen, and State of New Jersey, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in a Roller-Towel Cabinet;

and I do hereby declare `the following toY be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to. make and use the same.

My invention relates to a towel cabinet particularly of the type calleda roller towelv cabinet. Inthese cabinets an indefinite length oftoweling is supplied on a clean towel roller in a receptacle or case andpassed thence, after it has been soiled by use, to another rollerwhereon it is wound for washing or renewal. These rollers may beinterchangeable and the soiled towel compartment is provided with meanswhereby the toweling is kept from view and seppreviously soiledtoweling, thus exposing a wipe or use.

In most places, at least in this country, the boards of health prohibitthe use of the so-called old style continuous rollerl towel of the typethat is in common domestic use in kitchens. This prohibition is basedupon the fact that a roller towel soon` has its clean surface exhausted.by the users and then, of course, may become unsanitary and section ofclean toweling sufiicient for a dangerous for further use. lTo obviatethis many continuous roller towel cabinets have been devised most, ifnot all, of lwhich rely upon the use of numerous rolls and pulleys,measuring devices, and other means toinsure a sectionof clean toweling.Sometimes frictionsurfaces of sand paper, emery, etc., are used whichhave an injurious and wearing effect upon the towel. This is detrimentalto the towel or cabinet, thewall or Specification of Letters Patent.-Patented Feb. 28 1922.

Application filed March 24, 1921.

Serial No. 455,063.

surface to which the cabinet is attached and, of course, to thetemperament and nerves of the user, with the result that they areunsatlsfactory in actual public use and not commerclally successful on alarge scale. My roller towel cabinet is novel 'in shape, inexpensive andeasy to operate because of the few parts employed in its make up and itsslmple operation. Sometimes the soiled towels are` exposed to repeateduse by allowing a looped end f soiled towel to hang from the cabinetvand are liable to spread contaglon from the soiled exposed portion even,when it is not directly used. Anyone who has observed the character ofmany of the persons who resort to the .use of public lavatories, and asnoted particularly in those of the lower sort, the character of diseasesthey suffer from, must realize the danger of contagion thus arising andthe consequent spread of scrofulous and infectiou's diseases generally.

I aim to provide a towel cabinet in which F ig. l.

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a vertical section on the line '5-5 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view of my cabinet lookingat it from the rightside,the section y.

being along the vline 6-6 of Fig. 1, and looking to the left.`

'Figx 7 .is a detail showing a mounting of the clean towel roller axle.

Fig. 8 shows the same thing in connection with a stop.`

Fig. 9 shows the'lnounting of the windlass roller.

Fig. 1() shows the means for securing the latter in place.

Fig. 11 shows the latch also for holding the windlassy roller. i

, front of the cabinet.

Fig. 17 is a side view of one modification looking from the right side;and Fig. 18 is a side View of still another modification looking fromthe right side.

In the drawing, l represents the cabinet, which consists, as shown, of aclosed upper casing 2 or compartment and a closed lower casing 3.Between these two casings' or compartments is on open space, which Ihave indicated by 4, produced by cutting away the side walls 5 so as toallow ready access to the strip of toweling 6. These side walls mays beomitted entirely at this point, as is indicated in the form shown inFig. 17. I preferably use a crescent or semicircular shaped recess,which allows freedom 'of action in use and also acts as a measuringdevice by pushing the towel surface against it when more than the usualamount of clean towel lsurface is desired.

In the uppercasing or cabinet I provide a rod or roller 7 upon which `iswound a length of clean toweling 6. This toweling may be, say 25 yardsto 100 yards long, and the toweling 6 is made to pass from the upperroller about the lower roller 8 on which lower roller it is wound by awindlass 9.V The upper cabinet .is closed by a door 10 which may be heldin place by suitable latches 11, and the lower casing is closed by adoor-12 also held in place when turned in position by suitable latches.The toweling passes out of the upper casing through a narrow slot formedby the crescent shaped part and the cover indicated at 13 and into thelower casing through another slot 14 also formed by the crescent shapedpart and the cover whereby it is kept, the clean toweling fromcontamination by the atmosphere, and the soiled toweling from spreadingcontagion generally, and the soiled towehng is also kept apart entirelyfrom the clean toweling.

The material of the cabinet is preferably sheet metal, such asgalvanized iron, enameled tin, etc. It may be, of course, copper ornickel, or wood or paperboard, or any other suitable material, and maybe suitably painted and decorated. The toweling may be united to theupper roller or lower roller, or both, by a row of teeth, notshown, orby gummed paper or by being passed through a slot in the roller, orother suitable attach- The cabinet is intended to be suspended with' theclean towel compartment or casing above, though it may be used with therollers 7 and 8 in vertically adjusted position, or it may be laid flatupon a table, the latter being perhaps the preferable position when thedevice is to be used by children. The depres- A towel.

I unite lto the upper roll, preferably on the left side as shown, a disk15 in which are a number of regularly spaced openings 16, see Figs. 2, 3and 16. I mount on the side of the casing a spring impressed bolt 17 thespring 18 tending to impel the bolt inward. This bolt is mounted in thepath of the holes 16 and is of a size to enter any of said holes. Theoperator or user seizes this pin or bolt 17 with his left hand, whichfrees the upper roller and permits it to turn readily. He then graspsthe windlass 9 and turns the lower roll until he has unrolled a surfaceof clean toweling, using 12 to 18 inches, or less. He then lets go thebolt or pin and it enters one of the holes 16 and locks the upper rollfrom further turning. If it does not happen to strike one of the holes,it slides over the surface of the disk for a few inches till a hole isreached. This also provides for some slack of the towel. He then usesthe towel and, since there is access to the towel on both sides, he canuse both sides of the towel, wiping one hand on one side and one on'theother. This is v'easily done by reason of the loose slack of the towel.The towel can be turned part way round and he can use all portions ofit. He

then, if he is a thoughtful man, winds it up for the exposure of a freshsurface for the next user. Usually, however, he will leave the soiledsurface exposed for the next man to wind up.

The mountings for the rollers consist of the brackets 19, (see Figs. 7to 9), which are bolted at 20 to the walls of the cabinet, and saidbrackets have suitable bearings for the axles of the'rollers. I providethe slot 21, see Fig. 6, leading to said bearings. The disk 15 ismounted by means of a bolt 22 directly in one of said brackets, and theinner side of said bolt, that is the side next to the roller, has asquared or other suitable engaging seat 23. The upper roller has asquared or other suitable engaging end 24 which engages this seat. Ofcourse the squaredV socket and squared end may be of any suitableequivalent non-rotatable shape, and I wish the word squared here andelsewhere used, to have this meaning. ing means.

When the device is to be loaded, the roller with the towellng upon it,simply has its squared end thrust into said seat and the pin at theother end of the roller dropped through the slot 21 to the roller seat.The

- slot is directed upward'and, since the pull on the roller is alwaysdownward, the roller is secured and thus is in readily removablerelation to the disk and bearing. The roller must always turn with thedisk, and when the disk is not permitted to turn the roller cannot turn.At the same time the disk cannot be moved from its location or separatedfrom the wall of the cabinet. The lower roll, or soiled towel roll, mustbe secure against the eect of gravity and against. the upward pull onthe towel. These are opposed to each other, not in the same direction,as in the upper roll.

The lclean towels are thus entirely separated from the soiled ones. I donot know that this is found in any other cabinet, and I regard it as animportant feature of my construction because all possibility ofcontamination is thus avoided. The partition which closes olf entirelythe clean from the soiled towels also serves to strengthen the structureand prevent the sides from being pushed out of alinement, which isimportant to keep the rolls in their proper parallel operative position.

I provide in the bracket for the lower roll, to the left, a slot andseat for the roller pin, and on the right mount the windlass between thebracket and the wall; that is, on the inside of the bracket, I provide asquared or other suitable engaging socket 23, and on the right end ofthe lower roller I provide a squared or other'y suitable engaging head24 similar to the squared head to the left of the upper roller. I alsoprovide on the left side of the lower roller a latch 25, see Fig. 11,shutting down over the y pin in the end of the roller, thus holding theend of the roller ina closed socket and secure from movement in eitherup or down direction.

I provide for the windlass a pawl and a pin ratchet 26, see Fig. 10,A onthe inside of the casing so as to prevent turning of the windlass orcrank in the wrong direction.

The two rollers are preferably the same and interchangeable. In loadingthe device the roller supplied withthe clean toweling must have thesquaredend at the leftso as to engage the disk. The unrolling roller,that is the lower roller, must have the squared end at the right so asto engage the-crank or windlass seat. These rollers are provided by thetowel supply company usually, with the length of toweling demanded bythe service, and the attendant can, by the use of one hand, remove theupper roller, place the clean towel roller within the seat, remove thelower roller, replace it by an empty roller, either the one from theupper casing or cabinet, or some other, thread' the towel through andput it in position in a fraction of a minute.

I may have various ways of fastening the covers down. These I show inFigs. 12, 13, 14, etc. In Fig. 12 I show spring clips 27l passingthrough holes 28 in a flange 29 made fast to and a part of the sidewalls. These flanges` add a. great deal tothe stiffness of the device.

I show in Fig. 13 a securing button 30, much like the button on thecurtain of an automobile. In Fig. 14 I show va button 31 to be turned'by the thumb and 'finger like a clamp or latch. vIn Fig. 15 I show theupper lid held down partly by its own weight and the weight of thecoiled part 11, and I show also a wire bolt 37 adapted to be slippedinto the curved lips of the lid and compartment edge so as'to lock themtogether. This bolt has the shape as shown at the left, of a U Awithunequal legs. One leg passes into one hollow space and the other intothe other. It is thus necessary to draw it out far enough only to clearthe y In Fig. 16 I show hasps, a bar 33 and a lock 34.

In Fig. 1.7 I show both the upper and the lower box or casing having asquare outline and the doors hinged at 3'5 and 36. This is aconstruction favorable to the use of wood. In Figure 18 I show therecess carried clear to the back, thus insuring the separation of thetwo compartments and also affording a deeper recess, whereby greaterconvenience is afforded to the user of the toweling and he is enabled bypush ing on the toweling from the front to secure a greater length offree toweling. When this is not done, as in Fig. 6, I may provide in theVhollow space back of the crescent or curved portion a drawer 38,A or arecess, as is shown in Fig. 6.

My device is adapted for use in hotels, Pullman wash rooms, factories,school rooms, offices, private kitchens, private bath rooms, and in factwherever places for washing hands or face may be. p

It will be seen that I have thus provided a very simple device, onerequiring a minimum of attention, one which cannot get out of order,which does not adapt itself to abuse or to the use of the towels forimproper purposes, or wear on the towel surface, and one which iseconomical and sanitary in that it keeps the soiled towels hidden awaywhere they cannot be got at, and separated and closed olf entirely fromthe clean towel case.

It will be noted that the pin or bolt 17 in no sense-limits the lengthof toweling to be used. There isno temptation, however, for a user towind off an undue length because the towel thus wound olf passes intothe soiled towel compartment. The impulse to the user is to let go thesaid bolt and stop the unwinding of the towel as soon as he has enoughtowel unwound. To discourage, moreover, the possibility of a userpulling the pin 17 out with his left hand andyanking down great lengthsof the towel/ing with his right hand, disregarding the windlass orcrank, I may provide friction devices against the disk 15. If more towelis needed, however, it may be obtained without using the windlass orcrank by pulling on the slack towel while retaining the springtemporarily withdrawn.

I wish to dwell particularly and emphatically upon the soiled or usedtowel surface being isolated in a separate compartment from the cleantoweling. This, as pointed out previously, is very important inpreventing the spread of disease, and not only is it separated but itmaybe subject to disinfectants with very great advantage.

Some of the-advantages of my device arethe readiness with which thedevice may be loaded, the fact that the toweling is not wasted inloading, the fact that only two rolls are used and these areinterchangeable, the fact that there is no rictional contact of thetowel with rollers and no consequent abrasion, the fact that one man canget as little towel surface as he desires. Other considerations are theease with which the device may be loaded, the catches, the locks .alloperable by one hand so that the attendant can uncover the case, takeout the old rolls and load it with the towels he holds in his other handor arms, and do all this expeditiously and easily. Other advantages arethe simplicity of parts, the smallness of wall space used, the ease withwhich the desired slack can ber obtained, and other advantages whichhave been pointed out before.

In devices of this kind the ease with which the catches can be operatedis a great advantage, at the same time due consideration must be paid tothe situation where the toweling is to be used, for instance thesecuring means in a device to be used for mischievous school boys shouldbe much more complete than those used, say, in a private lavatory, as isobvious. Y p

I reserve the right to all equivalents to the parts herein shown, andwhat I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s:

l. A roller towel cabinet comprising a casing containing twosubstantially closed chambers separated from each other, each of saidchambers being provided with a slotlike opening to permit the passagetherethrough of the strip of toweling, said openings being insubstantially parallel relation, towel rollers, adapted to have a stripof towcling wound thereon, detachably mounted in each of said chambers,the one for the clean and the other for the soiled toweling, aperforated disk mounted to rotate with the first mentioned roller, aspring-impressed pin normally bearing against said perforated disk andadapted to engage said perforations, the said pin being provided with asuitable head adapted to be grasped by the operator, and means exteriorto the second chamber'and connected to said second roller for turningsame when desired, substantially as described.

2. A roller towel cabinet comprising a casing containing twosubstantially closed chambers separated from each other, each of saidchambers being provided with a slotlike opening to permit the passagetherethrough of the strip of toweling, said openings being insubstantially parallel relation, towel rollers, adapted to have a stripof toweling wound thereon, detachably mounted in each of said chambers,the one for the clean and the other for the soiled toweling, aperforated disk mounted to rotate with the first mentioned roller, aspring-impressed pinv normally bearing against said perforated disk andadapted to engage said perforations, the said pin being provided with asuitable head adapted to be grasped by the operator, means exterior tothe second. chamber and connected to said second ro-ller for turningsame in one direction, when desired, and means for locking said secondlrolle-r against turning in the opposite direction, substantially asdescribed.

3. A roller towel cabinet comprising a casing containing' twosubstantially closed chambers separated from each other, each of saidchambers being provided with a slotlike opening to permit the passagetherethrough of the strip of toweling, said openings being insubstantially parallel relation, towel rollers, adapted to have a stripof toweling wound thereon, detachably mounted in each of said chambers,the one for the clean and the other for the soiled toweling, aperforated disk mounted to rotate with the first mentioned roller, aspring-impressed pin normally bearing against said perforated disk andadapted to engage said perforations, the said pin being provided with aisuitable head exterior to said chamber and adapted to be grasped by theoperator, and means exterior to the second chamber, located on theopposite side of said cabinet from said pin and connected to saidsecond. roller, for turning same when desired, substantially asdescribed.

4. A roller towel cabinet comprising a casing containing two`substantially closed chambers separated from each other, each of saidchambers being provided with a slotlike opening to permit the passagetherethrough of the strip oftoweling, said openings bein insubstantially arallel relation, towel ro 1ers, adapted to have a stripo-f toweling wound thereon, detachably mounted in each of said chambers,the one for the clean and the other for the soiled toweling, aperforated -disk mounted to rotate with the lirst mentioned roller, aspring-impressed pin normally bearingA against said perfo-rated disk andadapted to engage Ysaid perforations, the said pin being provided with asuitable head exterior to said chamber and adapted to be grasped by theoperator, means exterior to the second chamber located on the oppositeside of said cabinet from said pin, and connected to said second roller,for turning same when desired, and means for locking said second rolleragainst turning in the opposite direction, substantially as described.

5. A roller towel cabinet comprising a casing containing twosubstantially closed chambers separated from each other, each of saidchambers being provided with a slotlike opening to permit the passagetherethrough of the strip of toweling, said openings being insubstantially parallel relation, towel rollers, adapted to have a stripof toweling wound thereon, detachably mounted in each of said chambers,the one for the clean and the other for the soiled toweling, automaticmeans for normally locking the first mentioned roller, with handcontrolled means operable from one side of the cabinet for releasingsaid locking means, and means for turning said second roller in onedirection only located exterior to the second chamber, and on theopposite side of said cabinet from said releasing means, substantially.as described.

6. A roller towel cabinet comprising a casing containing twosubstantially closed chambers separated from each other, eachV of saidchambers'being provided with a slotlike opening to permit the passagethere,- through of the strip of toweling, said openings being insubstantially parallel relation towel rollers, adapted to have a stripof toweling wound thereon, detachably mounted in each of said chambers,the one for the clean and the other for the soiled toweling, automaticmeans for normally locking the irst mentioned roller, with handcontrolled means operable from one side of the cabinet for releasingsaid locking means, means for lturning said second roller in onedirection only located exteriorto the second chamber, and on theopposite side of said .cabinet from said releasing means, and means forlocking said second roller against turning in the opposite direction,substantially as described.

7. A roller towel cabinet comprising a casing provided with two chambersseparated 'from each other, a pair of parallel rollers, for holdingclean and soiled toweling, mounted, respectively, in said chambers, oneof said rollers having engagement at the one side of the cabinet with achecking device and the other having engagement at the other side of thecabinet with a winding device, means for rendering the checking devicetemporarily inoperable by the use of one hand whereby the device may befreed with one hand to be wound by the other, so as to secure a lengthof clean toweling, substantially as described.

8. In a roller towel cabinet, in combination, an upper chamber, a lidtherefor open-- ing upward, a lower chamber, a lid therefor openingdownward, mountings in said chamber for rollers, said rollers beingreadily detachable from said. mountings, but

made to turn therewith, and means whereby when the lids are opened apair of rollers may be inserted in the chambers, one to unwind from theother, the toweling passing at the edges of the respective lids, withmeans for turning one of said rollers, and thereby drawing the towelingfrom the other roller, substantially as described.

9. A roller towel cabinet comprising a casing containing two chambersseparated from each other, doors hinged to said chambers and normallysubstantially closing same, but leaving when closed a slot-like .openingto permit the passage therethrough of the strip of toweling, the wall ofeach 'chamber and the adjacent edge of the door being provided with ahollow tubular bead -to serve as rounded guides for the toweling,

towel rollers, adapted to have a strip of toweling wound thereon,detachably mounted in each of said chambers, the one for the clean andthe other for the soiled toweling, the web of the toweling passingthrough said slots, and fastening means for said doors comprisingsubstantially 'U-shaped hooks having arms of unequal length adapted toengage in and stiffen and space apart said tubular beads, with means fordrawing the toweling from one roller to the other through said slots,substantially as described. v

In testimony whereof, I aiiix my signature.

GUY w. rERDoN.

